Mel Gibson's The Passion, sparking concern from the ADL.

george

I have to confess that Lola and I have some history of discussion (with more than a few disagreements) on whether or not religious persons ought to be smeared with gooey stuff, slipped into a big chubby rocket, and fired towards Tau Ceti.

But her post above (on suffering) was a revelation to me. This is a viewpoint with, I think, as much value as an earlier and quite different viewpoint I expressed regarding the depth of worth in the Christ story which one might draw from Lear.

I really hoped that as I grew older things would become more visible and sensible and easier to place into their proper categories. But now I find that even the categories are deeply suspect.

I find constancy in love, in people with merciful hearts, and in ladies who accept my invitation to a game of frontgammon.

Blatham,

Good choices all. Life is indeed often short on constancy and even on mercy and justice for our hearts and souls. Many see in the story or mystery of Christ's suffering a union with the earthly fate of mankind and a thing that even transcends it. If one rejects that, there may be only the suffering left to contemplate, and with that I can see the reaction you cite. However, even so, is that really worse than all the coarse and meaningless stuff that besets us all in other areas? Can you not temper your reaction with the understanding that to others at least, the suffering is not the point? Are we not prejudging a depiction that none of us has yet seen?

george

Actually, I haven't expressed an opinion on the movie (having not seen anything at all of it) and I have expressed my disagreements with the JDL on this and a few other occasions. And I'm quite happy to have anybody believe and practice whatever this wish from Sufis to Wiccans - so long as they don't act politically so as to infringe on my liberties and life choices. And, in fact, I find many 'religious' notions and practices both beautiful and admirable.

Re: Crucifixion....
Actually, Ian Wilson (yes, one of the wierd "Shroudies") has done more than anyone else to publicize the method of death by crucifixion. Apparently the art of the past two thousand years was wrong. One was, in fact, crucified facing the centre post and oft had one's ankles nailed to either side of the centre post. Ouch!

Don't give Mel any ideas -- he might refilm.

I'll agree there are and will be those who will likely go into rapture over the film and may even elevate Mel to the stature of Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt both who painted incredible imagery of the Crucifixion. I think this is what Mel wants.

Blatham,

Your detachment and your grace admirably balance your many faults. (Mine too).

george

Thank you. But my detachment is a consequence of the medication and my grace arrives through a large Liberace collection. For my magnificent sexual presence however, I take full credit.

Your faults will never be a subject of my posts.

And I won't give away that Blatham has recently had the candleabra on the grand piano electrified (I'm eletrifyin' and I'm not even tryin').

Damn! I thought I had him there.

It's true. A recent power outage found me in the dark, comforted only by the the sensual ivories and my Viennese opera-house drapery jacket.

I told you to stop polishing those piano keys with AstroGlide.

George sat on them.

But not our george.

I only play Frontgammon

Well, I was thinking if we need another Biblical epic, it would be continuing the folly of John Huston's "The Bible" also produced because of his undying faith and could not possibly have been the least bit self-aggrandizing :wink: . All I remember is laughing my head off at the Noah and the Ark sequence -- it's every bit as funny as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." And Ava Gardner as Sarah? Excuse me, I may vomit. I think pomposity and a certain amount of panting and pontificating are built into making Biblical epics and there's no way to commercialize the Bible without revealing someone's basic egotism and in effect, their basic politics. Everything is up for grabs in this free enterprise system -- filmmakers can have yards and yards of silk and still come up with a sow's ear.

Riiiight..What'sa cubit?

Dancin on my tippy toes

Caaareful -- they're slippery!

That was cute, george.

hobitbob

A 'cubit' is a square with attitude.